Salamanca Group (“Salamanca”), the Merchant Banking and Operational Risk Management business, has together with existing management, acquired the Investec Trust group of companies (“Investec Trust” or “the business”), from Investec Bank plc (“Investec”) for an undisclosed consideration. Investec Trust Services currently has over £4.5 billion in assets under administration. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval.
Fenchurch Advisory Partners acted for Investec Bank Plc and Salamanca Advisory acted for Salamanca Group and management.
The business will be run as a stand-alone division, and will be re-branded Salamanca Group Trust Services. It currently has offices in Jersey, Switzerland, South Africa and Mauritius and employs around 100 people, administering some 600 trust structures on behalf of clients. Clients include high net worth individuals and entrepreneurs; financial and professional intermediaries; family offices and corporate entities. Additionally the business regularly partners with specialist legal and tax advisers to achieve bespoke solutions for clients.
Commenting on the acquisition, Martin Bellamy, Chief Executive of Salamanca Group said: “The addition of Trust services has been a strategic objective for Salamanca Group for some time and having undertaken an extensive analysis of the market place, the Group concluded that the acquisition of Investec’s Trust business represented the ideal opportunity. We have bought a business with a first class management team and the highest levels of corporate governance.”
Avron Epstein of Investec Bank plc said: “As a professional services business we feel the trust company would benefit under independent ownership. We believe Salamanca, together with management, is best placed to take this business forward and to provide certainty and clarity to our clients and people. The professionalism and excellent service our staff have demonstrated throughout is testament to the strength and quality of the business. We wish them all the best and look forward to continuing our mutually beneficial relationship with the trust company.”
Salamanca Group Trust Services will offer an innovative and flexible approach to structuring, efficient estate planning, robust asset protection and complete confidentiality; providing solutions that extend across generations, across a choice of financial jurisdictions. Services include:
• Complex and vanilla trusts, foundations and company structures
• Multi-family office services
• Wide experience of holding financial and non-financial assets
• Experts in working with entrepreneurs
• Philanthropy
Martin Bellamy added: “Salamanca Group’s primary focus is establishing long-term, trusted relationships with our clients. This acquisition provides the Group with another significant medium through which to achieve this, expanding our offering to include a comprehensive range of high-end, tax compliant wealth preservation and succession planning services. There are also clear synergies with our existing business – particularly our Advisory and Private Client divisions. There will be no changes for existing clients nor will the other relationships with Investec be affected. We will work with management to build on the business’ solid foundations to create the pre-eminent Trust provider, distinguished by our core principles of integrity and agility.”
Xavier Isaac, CEO of Investec Trust Division said: “The acquisition by Salamanca Group and our existing management of the Investec Trust Group is a fantastic opportunity to deliver on our vision. High and ultra-high net worth individuals are no longer looking for traditional trust and fiduciary services in an increasingly complex environment. They expect independent thinking and high touch administration services complemented by multi-family office capabilities. By joining forces with a dynamic company like Salamanca Group, we will retain the entrepreneurial spirit that characterised us when we were operating under the Investec banner.”